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The 29-year-old Indian, who came through the first stage qualification, took a quick 3-0 lead over the rusty Irish cueist in the best-of-seven frame Group ‘L’ match. O’Donoghue pulled one back with a break of 62 in the fourth, and won a nervy fifth on the black.

India’s Hussian Khan scored a shock 4-2 win over former professional Brendon O’Donoghue of Ireland in his opening league match of the IBSF World Snooker Championships here late on Saturday.

The 29-year-old Indian, who came through the first stage qualification, took a quick 3-0 lead over the rusty Irish cueist in the best-of-seven frame Group ‘L’ match. O’Donoghue pulled one back with a break of 62 in the fourth, and won a nervy fifth on the black.

But before much damage could be done, Hussian regrouped quickly to take the sixth frame and the match with useful contributions.

On Sunday morning, fancied Pankaj Advani overcame Malaysia’s Thor Chuan Leong in a thriller (4-3) for his second win in Group ‘H’.

Brijesh Damani, the third Indian in the fray in the men’s section, suffered twin defeats in Group ‘E’

In the women’s draw, Amee Kamani, coming off a bronze medal effort at the Heyball World Championships four days ago, got down to business straightway. The 33-year-old edged out the formidable Choi Yan Tung of Hong Kong China 2-1 in Group ‘D’.

Keerthana Pandian, a former World U-21 champion, outclassed Iran’s Setayesh Amirazimi 2-0 in Group ‘B’.

Results (Indians unless mentioned): Men: Group E: Nicolas Mortreux (Fra) bt Brijesh Damani 4-3 (69-62, 12-112 (73), 52-41, 28-57, 80-53, 46-83, 77-0); Liang Xiaolong (Chn) bt Damani 4-1 (5-104 (98), 72-42, 66-22, 72 (72) -40, 57-29).

Group H: Pankaj Advani bt Thor Chuan Leong (Mas) 4-3 (61-78, 59-28, 37-72 (54), 66 (55) -21, 67-59, 1-66 (54), 60-19).

Group L: Hussain Khan bt Brendon O’Donoghue (Ire) 4-2 (81-57, 65-8, 56-48, 50- 62 (62), 59-68, 68-14).